The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center’s Semper Fit organization sponsored a grueling 24-hour relay race over mountains and sand; and for the second consecutive year, corpsmen assigned to Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms took home the win.

Titled, 24 at 29, the course consisted of a five-km (3.1-mile) loop through rugged terrain behind Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms. It started at 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 and ended at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26.

Divided among 10 team members, the NHTP team completed 72 five-km. loops for a combined total of 223 miles in 24 hours.

For the first 12 hours, under the darkness of night, each team had two members on the course for each loop. Only one team member was on the relay course for the final twelve hours during daylight.

“I was super impressed with Semper Fit,” said Lt. Cmdr. John Aylsworth, the only officer on the NHTP team. “They put up cones almost every 30 feet for the whole five-km. course. It was a crazy amount of cones to make sure everyone could see the route in the dark.”

Generators and lights were set up at all of the water stops, of which there were many, Aylsworth said. Each team member wore a headlamp during the nighttime hours.

Team captain, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Mason Hedeen, said preparation was key in winning. “Each time we had a relay, each member was ready to rock and pass the baton to the next guy. We had good turnover and consistency. We didn’t burn ourselves out. We walked up the hills, ran on the downhills and were consistent,” he said.

NHTP team members were: Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Mason Hedeen; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Joshua Creech; Hospitalman Cody Koble, Hospitalman Victor Garcia; Hospitalman Chazz Pluchino; Lt. Cmdr. John Aylsworth; Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Sebastian Kirchfeld; Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Robert Brophy, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Madison Wilkerson* Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Jacob Dasher* (*Wilkerson and Dasher are assigned to San Diego units).

The NHTP Team took home a plaque that is now displayed on the NHTP Quarterdeck. The bragging rights are priceless.

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